Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 9
9
1Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, and I would weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for wayfaring men, and I would leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3“And they bend their tongue like a bow. Falsehood, and not truth, prevails on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they have not known Me,” declares יהוה.
4“Let everyone beware of his neighbour and not trust any brother. For every brother catches by the heel, and every neighbour walks with slanderers.
5“And everyone deceives his neighbour, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, and have wearied themselves to crook.
6“You live in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to know Me,” declares יהוה.
7Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, “See, I shall refine them, and shall try them, for what shall I do because of the daughter of My people?
8“Their tongue is a slaying arrow. It speaks deceit – speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he sets his ambush.
9“Would I not punish them for this?” declares יהוה. “Would I not revenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10“I shall take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they have been burned up, without any passing over, nor has the voice of cattle been heard. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled, they have gone.
11“And I shall make Yerushalayim a heap of ruins, a habitation for jackals; and the cities of Yehuḏah I shall make a waste, without an inhabitant.”
12Who is the wise man, that he understands this? And to whom has the mouth of יהוה spoken, that he declares it? Why has the land perished, has it been burned up like a wilderness, with none passing through?
13And יהוה says, “Because they have forsaken My Torah which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice,#See footnote at Jer. 7:23 nor walked according to it,
14but they have walked according to the stubbornness of their own heart and after the Ba‛als, which their fathers had taught them.”
15Therefore thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, I am making this people eat wormwood, and I shall make them drink poisoned water.
16“And I shall scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I shall send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
17Thus said יהוה of hosts, “Discern! And call for the mourning women, that they come. And send for the wise women, that they come.
18“And let them hasten and take up a wailing for us, and let our eyes run with tears and our eyelids gush with water.
19“For a voice of wailing is heard from Tsiyon, ‘How we are ravaged! We are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken the land, because we have been thrown out of our dwellings.’ ”
20But hear the word of יהוה, O women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth. And teach your daughters wailing, and each one her neighbour a lamentation.
21For death has come through our windows, has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets, and the young men from the squares.
22Speak, “Thus declares יהוה, ‘The corpses of men shall fall as dung on the face of the field, like cuttings after the reaper, with none to gather them.’ ”
23Thus said יהוה, “Let not the wise boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty boast in his might, nor let the rich boast in his riches,
24but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am יהוה, doing loving-commitment, right-ruling, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” declares יהוה.
25“See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall punish all circumcised with the uncircumcised –
26“Mitsrayim, and Yehuḏah, and Eḏom, and the children of Ammon, and Mo’aḇ, and all those trimmed on the edges, who dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Yisra’ĕl are uncircumcised in heart!”
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Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 9: TS2009
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Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish my head were like a spring of water.
And I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears!
Then I could cry day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2I wish I had a place in the desert—
a house where travelers spend the night.
Then I could leave my people.
I could go away from them.
This is because they are all unfaithful to God.
They are all turning against him.
Judah’s Failures
3“They use their tongues like a bow.
They shoot lies from their mouths like arrows.
Lies, not truth,
have grown strong in the land.
They go from one evil thing to another.
They do not know who I am,” says the Lord.
4“Watch your friends.
Don’t trust your own brothers.
This is because every brother is a cheater.
And every friend tells lies about you.
5Everyone lies to his friend.
No one speaks the truth.
The people of Judah have taught their tongues to lie.
They become tired from sinning.
6Jeremiah, you live in the middle of evil.
And lies follow lies.
The people have refused to know me,” says the Lord.
7So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire.
I have no other choice.
My people have sinned.
8Their tongues are like sharp arrows.
Their mouths speak lies.
Everyone speaks nicely to his neighbor.
But he is secretly planning to attack him.
9Shouldn’t I punish the people for doing this?” says the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I give them the punishment they deserve?”
10I, Jeremiah, will cry loudly for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the empty fields.
They are empty, and no one passes through.
The mooing of cattle cannot be heard.
The birds have flown away,
and the animals are gone.
11“I, the Lord, will make the city of Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
It will become a home for wild dogs.
I will destroy the cities in the land of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12What man is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been taught by the Lord who can explain them? Why was the land ruined? Why has it been made like an empty desert where no one goes?
13The Lord answered, “It is because Judah quit following my teachings that I gave them. They have not obeyed me. They have not done what I told them to do. 14Instead, the people of Judah were stubborn. They followed the false god Baal. Their fathers taught them to do this!” 15So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them through other nations. They will live in strange nations that they and their ancestors never knew about. I will chase the people of Judah with the sword until they are all killed.”
17This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Now, think about these things!
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
Send for those women who are good at that job.
18Let them come quickly
and cry loudly for us.
Then our eyes will fill with tears.
And streams of water will come out of our eyes.
19The sound of loud crying is heard from Jerusalem:
‘We are truly ruined!
We are truly ashamed!
We must leave our land,
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20Now, women of Judah, listen to the word of the Lord.
Open your ears to hear the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to cry loudly.
Teach one another a funeral song!
21Death has climbed in through our windows.
It has entered our strong cities.
Death has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken the young men who meet in the city squares.
22Say, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The dead bodies of men will lie
in the open field like dung.
They will lie on the ground like grain a farmer has cut.
But there will be no one to gather them.’”
23This is what the Lord says:
“Wise men must not brag about their wisdom.
Strong men must not brag about their strength.
Rich men must not brag about their money.
24But if someone wants to brag, let him brag about this:
Let him brag that he understands and knows me.
Let him brag that I am the Lord.
Let him brag that I am kind and fair.
Let him brag that I do things that are right on earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me,” says the Lord.
25The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 26That is the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. I will also punish the desert people who cut their hair short. The men in all those countries have not given themselves to serving me. And the men of Israel do not give themselves to serving me.”
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